Airlines, travelers scramble after quake in Japan

Normal flight schedule expected by Saturday

March 11, 2011|By Julie Johnsson, Tribune reporter

United, Delta and American airlines scrambled to reroute jets and thousands of stranded passengers who had been headed for Tokyo when a massive earthquake and tsunami struck the northeastern coast of Japan on Friday.

While American canceled all of its flights to Japan on Friday, United and Delta operated limited schedules. The three largest U.S. carriers offered to waive booking fees for customers who opted to cancel or reschedule travel to the stricken island nation but said they expected flights to return to normal by Saturday.

Travel was fouled up throughout Asia after Japanese officials closed Narita International Airport, a major international hub about an hour from Tokyo, and shut down train lines to the airport. More than 70 overseas flights bound for Narita were diverted to airports in unaffected parts of Japan as well as to Guam, South Korea and Anchorage, Alaska, according to Airline Route, a blog that monitors flights.

With Narita expected to open at noon Saturday, flight planners at Chicago-based United Continental Holdings Inc. were working to unravel a logistical maze that stretched around the north Pacific.

Their task was to get flight crews, passengers and aircraft that are scattered around the region to Narita, while preparing for regular afternoon departures from Tokyo to the U.S., said Megan McCarthy, spokeswoman for the parent company of United and Continental.

Images of Japan's stricken air transport system flashed around the world. Floodwaters dashed cars and other debris into the main terminal at Sendai Airport, located on the coast closest to the epicenter of the 8.9 magnitude quake. Narita, to the south, was shaken but not devastated.

The U.S. Air Force opened Yokota Air Base outside Osaka to 11 commercial jetliners from the U.S. and Europe. Travelers were provided food and cots and were tended to by volunteers from the Red Cross, Boy Scouts and other base organizations, Defense Department officials said.

While none of the U.S. carriers reported any injuries to Japan-based workers, several of American's staffers were stranded in a rail car for more than six hours Friday, just minutes from their Narita stop, said airline spokesman Ed Martelle.